Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner reached the necessary 75% support on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot revealed Tuesday. Complete results.
Suzuki is the first Japanese player elected, falling one vote shy of unanimous. The trio will be inducted on July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y., along with classic era committee picks Dave Parker and
Sabathia, Suzuki and Wagner join Dave Parker and the late Dick Allen, who were elected by the Classic Baseball Era Committee to comprise the Hall’s Class of 2025.
The Hall of Fame doors will open to Ichiro Suzuki, to CC Sabathia, and to Billy Wagner, and that’s a solid trio.
The former ace lefty earned the prestigious honor in his first year of eligibility. He spent 7 1/2 of his 19 seasons with the Tribe, winning the AL Cy Young in 2007.
These three players, along with Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were chosen by the most recent Era Committee, will be inducted in Cooperstown this coming summer. The necessary first step, though, is clearing that 75% threshold for election and then getting the official call from the Hall.
The BBWAA recognized CC Sabathia’s prolonged excellence by voting the former Yankees left-hander into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
While Sabathia was a runaway choice in the Hall of Fame election, selected on 86.8% of the ballots by the Baseball Writers' Association of America – joining peers Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner – this ultimate honor meant much, much more than just a museum plaque in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Sabathia and Suzuki — teammates for three seasons with the Yankees — are now linked forever in baseball’s hallowed gallery of immortals. Both were elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot Tuesday, with Billy Wagner joining them on his 10th and final try.
Ichiro Suzuki is the first Japanese-born player voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He'll be joined by CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner in the Class of 2025.
Suzuki's close call means New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains the only unanimous electee. Rivera received all 425 votes in 2019. Another longtime Yankees icon, shortstop Derek Jeter, came within one vote of unanimous election in 2020. Suzuki, Rivera and Jeter were teammates with New York from 2012-13.